Prices of the Russian PET to change insignificantly in September

(MRC) -- PET granulate prices for September remain unchanged in the Russian market due to a weak demand amid oversaturated market, according to ICIS-MRC Price report. Despite quotations growth in Asia, Russian producers do not raise PET prices in the domestic market. The main reason is weak demand from PET converters.

In August ongoing slumping sales forced regional producers to produce to stock. According to market players, there is no use to rise granulate prices. Today PET prices of Russian production make RUB 59.000-62.000/t, including VAT, CPT Moscow. Increased feedstock prices in Asia also make traders thin margins. Prices of Asian polyethylene terephthalate make RUB 59.000-61.000/t, including VAT, CPT, Moscow.

According to market players, at the moment PET demand is weak amid oversaturated market. Further cutting of prices will not boost demand, but will just lead to financial losses. That is why many market players say about necessity to raise granulate prices - to ensure the minimum required level of profitability. According to MRC analysts, in early September growing TFA prices in Asia and Europe will force some Russian producers to increase PET prices around by RUB 1.000/t.

MRC

(ICIS) -- German major BASF faces volume growth pressure and declining petrochemical margins in 2012 because of deteriorating economic conditions, Bernstein Research said on Thursday. Based on this outlook, Bernstein downgraded the company to ⌠market-perform from ⌠outperform and dropped its target share price to EUR 56 (USD 80) from EUR 74.

BASF's chemicals ⌠Verbund part of its business - chemicals, plastics, performance products and functional solutions - will be most at risk, the analysts said.

⌠We believe that chemicals Verbund' volume growth and petrochemicals margins, which were key reasons for our outperform rating, will come under pressure in 2012 due to deteriorating economic conditions, Bernstein said in its research note.

MRC

(ICIS) -- China's purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose by 0.2 percentage points from July to 50.9% in August, according to the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing (CFLP) on Thursday.
This is the first time the PMI has rebounded after declining for four consecutive months, raising expectations that the Chinese economic recovery is gradually stabilising, said Zhang Liqun, an analyst from CFLP.

Among the PMI sub-indices in August, the new order index remained stable at 51.1% in July, while the country's production index increased by 0.2 percentage points from July to 52.3%, according to official data from CFLP.

The slight increase of 0.2 percentage points stopped the consecutive decline of China's PMI. In addition, the increase shows that the manufacturing sector has rebounded despite the government's tightening monetary policy and slowing global economic growth, said an analyst from Zhicheng Securities.

Meanwhile, China's increasing purchasing index showed that cost pressure still weighs on small and medium-sized enterprises, Zhang added.

MRC

(ICIS) -- US butadiene (BD) prices are expected to fall on average by 3.3% in September, market sources said on Wednesday, predicting the first drop for the monthly contract in 2011. The reduction comes as three US suppliers settled at USD 1.70/lb (USD 3,748/tonne, EUR 2,586/tonne) FOB (free on board) USG (US Gulf),while a fourth producer split the market and settled at USD 1.75/lb, market sources said.

The settlements put the September contract at USD 1.7075/lb, which is down from a weighted average of USD 1.7660/lb in August, when the market was split at USD 1.75/lb and USD 1.86/lb.

The drop in September will snap a nine-month uptrend during which BD contract prices more than doubled as a result of tight supply and firm demand. US BD prices last dropped in November 2010, when contracts settled 2 cents/lb lower at 84 cents/lb. The softening in the US market is in line with a downturn in other regions.

MRC

(BASF) -- Daimler and BASF have developed a new concept vehicle that combines both companies' ideas for holistic electric mobility. The resulting vehicle is the smart forvision, which has been developed with a special emphasis on energy efficiency, temperature management and lightweight design. The smart forvision will have its world premiere at the 64th International Motor Show in Frankfurt.


Both Daimler and BASF are engaged in wide-ranging research and development work aimed at getting electric cars on the road and ensuring that electric mobility becomes part of everyday life as soon as possible. Daimler is embracing the age of electric mobility: it is the first car manufacturer to have released four electric production models, and its smart fortwo electric drive is a pioneer among battery-driven vehicles.

BASF, the world's largest supplier of chemical products to the automotive industry, develops sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions for the energy-efficient mobility of tomorrow. The two companies have now combined their technological competencies for the first time, developing a forward-looking vehicle concept that offers decisive solutions to the challenges of the future. The new vehicle brings design, lifestyle and technology together to form a new functional whole.

MRC